CcLAJU^, III. 




Glass 3 fe fo^ -S 

Book Ca.-? 



TO THE /Z. (C 

POLISH NATIONAL COMMITTEE IN THE 
UNITED STATES. 

Gentlemen, ^{ , x 

Understanding that you are preparing an historical view of the 
immigration of your persecuted and expatriated countrymen into 
this country, I have judged that it might be agreeable to you, and 
enable you more completely to accomplish your object, to present 
you with a brief account of the measures adopted in aid of those 
who visited this city, together with the results, so far as they 
have fallen within my observation; and my situation, as chair- 
man of the committee appointed to raise funds for them, enabled 
me to survey the whole ground. 

Almost immediately after the arrival of the first body that landed 
in New York, a committee of twenty-one was appointed here, 
(May 5, 1834,) for the purpose of raising subscriptions for their 
relief. This committee hired suitable persons to make collections, 
which were intended to be forwarded to a committee simulta- 
neously appointed in New York. Accordingly, at an early day, 
(May 14,) as soon as the funds on hand admitted, a draft for $500 
in favour of the chairman of the latter committee was remitted to 
him, and authority given to draw for more, whenever the state of 
our funds might warrant a draft, and the demands in New York re- 
quire it. 

This arrangement did not satisfy the New York committee. 
They requested, in preference, that we should receive and provide 
in Philadelphia for a certain number of the immigrants. Although 
this plan was by no means originally contemplated by us, and was 
likely to produce a great increase of trouble and inconvenience, we 
cheerfully assented. 

Col. W. P. Smith, one of our members, proceeded, therefore, to 
New York, and escorted to this city twenty-five of the party, 
recommended by Mr. Gallatin. Col. S. received from the New 
York committee the $500 which we had remitted; and lodged 
in bank of Pennsylvania, $481^, the remaining $>18£ having been 
expended in New York, and for the fare of the Poles on board 
the steamboat The relodgement of thio jam in the bank makes 
the receipts appear so much more than they really were. 

From time to time others came on, and the numbers were con- 
stantly varying, so that we had sometimes to provide for thirty and 
thirty-five, and on one occasion there were about forty in this city, 
of whom a few were not exactly of the description of the first body; 
but we could not allow them to suffer, and therefore temporarily 
placed them on the same footing as their compatriots. 

Although many of the immigrants had been reduced to this la- 
mentable state, so galling to generous minds, from splendid and 
even princely fortunes, some from the possession of immense estates, 
embracing entire towns and villages, and comprising hundreds of 
souls, and from the enjoyment of all the luxuries of life, it is highly 
creditable to them, that, with scarcely an exception, they were 
laudably anxious to procure employment, of almost any kind, in 
order to relieve their feelings from the dependence on public 
support. From these considerations, and, moreover, as our funds 
were, and were likely to continue, very limited, no pains were 
spared in the effort to procure them occupation. Correspondence 



•• :^v< jtffit ;£* *^ ^ 

was opened for this purpose with influential citizens in Baltimore, 
Lancaster, Harrisburg, Carlisle, Pittsburg, Cincinnati, &c. In fur- 
therance of the same object, W. R. Johnson, Esq,, one of the com- 
mittee, proceeded to the German counties with two of the Poles who 
spoke German fluently. He visited Lancaster, Gettysburg, Cham- 
bersburg, York, &c. &c, in order not merely to procure situations 
for those who accompanied him, but, if possible, to make pro- 
vision and permanent arrangements for providing employment for 
more of their countrymen. This excursion, though of salutary 
tendency, did not produce all the good consequences that were an- 
ticipated. In Lancaster, collections were made to the amount of 
$150, and aid was also given to Poles passing through the above 
towns. But employment, the grand object sought, was procured 
for very few. Hence considerable numbers of the Poles, whose 
travelling expenses were paid by the committee to go to towns in 
the interior of the state, to Baltimore, &c, in quest of employment, 
returned completely disappointed and disheartened. Their ex- 
penses of travelling, and those of Mr. Johnson and his compa- 
nions, made a considerable inroad into our slender finances. 

The failure of success in the applications for employment, arose 
partly from the general stagnation of business at that period 
throughout the Union, which threw out of employment great num- 
bers of our own citizens, who, in any competition, were sure of a 
preference over strangers unaccustomed to our manners and cus- 
toms. It arose partly also, from the difficulty, not to say the im- 
possibility, in which nearly the whole of them were placed by 
their inability at the commencement, and for some time afterwards, 
to make themselves understood in our language. 

It is unnecessary to descant on the extreme vexation and 
difficulty experienced by the committee in the arrangements for 
persons of whom no small number could speak Polish alone — some 
Polish and German — some Polish and French and German. Not 
above three or four could speak or understand English. One hun- 
dred and fifty French, or five hundred English, Irish, or Scotch, 
would not be half so difficult to manage. 

A teacher was selected, and a room hired for the purpose 
of having them taught the English language. An edition of two 
hundred and fifty copies of a vocabulary selected from different 
phrase books, translated into Polish, was printed, and copies dis- 
tributed not merely to the Poles who were here, but among those 
in New York and Boston. 

It is in vain to disguise the unpleasant fact, that the public sym- 
pathy was by no means excited to the extent that the case claimed, 
in the eyes of the generous and liberal, from the magnitude of the 
glorious cause in which these people had so nobly sacrificed them- 
selves, their families, their friends, and their country, independent 
of the extent and intensity of their immediate sufferings. 

In proof of this it may be stated that the benefit at Walnut street 
theatre produced only the shabby sum of $171.87, although the 
celebrated Power, " himself a host," performed, whose appearanee 
might have warranted the expectation of a crowded and brilliant 
house, with at least from 800 to 1000 dollars. Had the managers 
made the customary charge of $250 for the house, the net proceeds 
would have been only $93. 74 ! ! ! as the gross receipts were only 
$343 74 ! But the arrangement was, that half of those receipts 



should be paid to the committee. It is due to justice (by way 
of a parenthesis) to state, to the honour of Mr. Power, that he 
not only performed gratuitously, at a considerable sacrifice of his 
time, (having come expressly for the purpose,) but contributed 
handsomely towards the fund. 

A further proof of this state of the public feeling arises from 
the fact, that the charity sermons which were preached in four 
churches produced but $486.84— St. John's Church, $203.96* — 
Fifth Presbyterian, $150.46*— Mr. Chambers's, $78.31, and St. 
Mary's, $54.l7.t It is not therefore wonderful, that the whole 
of the receipts amounted only to $2550 10. This lukewarmness 
may be partly accounted for by the " donation," as it was delu- 
sively called, of a township of 23,040 acres, to the Poles by Congress. 
The whole amount of this donation Iff was merely a credit of ten 
years on the purchase money ! Nevertheless, so little was the real 
nature of the case understood, that most of our citizens were led to 
believe that the Poles were adequately provided for by the govern- 
ment ; whereas the donation was for these unfortunate people of no 
avail whatever. It was impossible for them to turn the lands to 
any account. They were unable to raise money on them by hypo- 
thecation. They could not alienate them, as they had not the fee- 
simple. They had no means whatever to migrate to them, nor, if 
there, to cultivate them, or to support themselves, should they at- 
tempt to cultivate them ! In a word, this pompous donation, how- 
ever liberally intended by its advocates in Congress, was a mere 
shadow, which, when they attempted to seize it, eluded their grasp, 
and left them to despair and wretchedness, in a country boasting 
of its freedom, in whose defence some of their countrymen had 
periled, and some had lost their lives. They were, alas ! in the 
most hopeless, destitute, and forlorn situation, while most of our 
citizens, I repeat, were deceived into the opinion that they had 
been liberally provided for by our government. 

Had Congress given them in cash the amount of one-half of the 
cash price of the lands, it would have been a real and effectual re- 
lief to them. It would have rescued them from the heart-rending 
scenes which they have since passed through ; which drove some 
of them to suicide ; and which reduced others to the painful alterna- 
tive of perishing of hunger, or depending on charity. Some of 
them have been for weeks in our cities, unable to procure employ- 
ment, even for their board and lodging. I repeat, therefore em- 
phatically, that this donation was a real injury, in damping the 
public sympathy, and thus diminishing the contributions for their 
relief. 

It is a trite observation, that a half idiot can often discover, after 
an operation is performed, how much better it might have been 
done, however great the care taken in its concoction. And the 
veriest dolt that walks the streets, can now see, that it would have 
been better for the Poles and for us, had we at once divided the 
collection pro rata among them, than to have expended nearly the 
whole of it on their support in this city, where they were almost 
wholly unemployed, and left so small a modicum for each when 

* These sums were very erroneously stated in the U. S. Gazette of June 26 — 
but the errors were corrected in the same paper of June 28. 

\ A small sum, the exact amount of which I never knew, was raised by the Rev 

Mr. Richmond, in St. Andrew's Church. Sec next na^re. 



they dispersed. The truth is, that it was difficult to decide what 
to do with them. I can conscientiously say, so far as regards 
myself, that I found my situation the most irksome of a public kind 
that I ever experienced. A co-operation between the different 
committees here and in other cities, would have produced salutary 
results, and was urged by one or two individuals, but was never 
seriously attempted. 

The labours of the Committee appeared to be closed on the 23d 
of August, when distribution was made of the small remnant of 
the funds on hands. It was heart-rending to reflect on the friend- 
less and forlorn situation of such a number of estimable men, who 
were precisely in the situation that Washington, Hancock, Adams, 
Jefferson, Jay, Morris, and other illustrious citizens would have 
occupied, had not Heaven looked with more favour on the cause 
of America, than it appears to have done on that of Poland — a 
country, once, under the great Sobieski, the proud and efficient 
bulwark of Europe, against the, till then, overwhelming power of 
the fierce Moslems, who, but for her, might have prostrated the 
cross, and elevated on high the crescent to the western boundaries 
of Europe, in France, Germany, and Holland, as the Saracens had 
done in Spain. 

Many of those ill-fated wanderers had to travel to the westward 
on foot, with a very few dollars in their pockets. And ' it reflects 
a high degree of credit on them, that, in the midst of their dis- 
tresses and privations, there is no instance of their having ever been 
guilty of any outrage upon persons or property. Such a strict 
observance of law and order, by such a number of men, many of 
them common soldiers, under such intense suffering, cannot be too 
highly praised. 

The Rev. Mr. Richmond had iii the month of May made some 
collections for the Poles in this city, and, of the proceeds, sent in 
November ninety dollars to this Committee, through the hands of 
Mr. Gallatin. This produced a necessity for a new series of ope- 
rations. There were here at that time six of the most respectable 
of your countrymen, who had contracted debts, by the expensive 
preparation of a Diorama, which unfortunately proved wholly un- 
successful. Being in hourly expectation of being arrested, they 
had to conceal themselves, and to depend on Mr. Black, a charitable 
individual, for the necessaries of life. They were desirous of going to 
New Orleans ; and from the money received from the Rev. Mr. R. • 
and some new collections, their debts and passage-money were 
paid — sea stores purchased for them — and each received a small 
sum to defray his early contingent expenses on landing. There 
was a considerable deficiency for these objects, which was supplied 
by a member of the committee. 

This was a final close of our operations ; and I now conclude 
with the ardent prayer, that Congress may, at its next session, give 
body, and substance, and reality to its " donation;" and that the 
remainder of the career of yourselves and your meritorious coun- 
trymen, may be ushered in, and continued, under more favourable 
auspices than you have hitherto experienced. 
- Yours, very respectfully, 

M. CAREY, Ex-Chairman P. C. 

Philadelphia, Sept. 30, 1836. 






tn 1 HE A ° f ^ C1 ! izens of the United States " respectfully solicited 

ulS G &* ^ Ch ° f ^ eff ° rtS ° f thG P ° leS ' - ith their Sre 

for July°T835 ^ ^^ ° r Eur ° pean Q^^terly Journal, 

Philadelphia, Oct. 19, 1835. c 

After the fall of Warsaw, on the 8th of SeDtemher IPm 5,71 i,™ Q ., \\ 

abandon the Polish patriots. Efforts, to rally ^nrt ™tii^ few™ •♦ ? 

tat ' t ' S d6d a dee P er Z 1 ? ™ t0 the despondency which settled on \he national cause 

the enemy. Its ranks had it is tru htlnl^Tr* 7 ° f agdn conte "ding with 
test; but the chasms left by the Sled 3 iT^ 7 ^ m ° n ? S ' san S ui ™ry con- 
by combatants who^thronJed from kLTITJIZ^™™' 7^ dela ^ fiUed U P 

the military pride of the J^SSfe J^J^^^M 

t*^^ the year 1768 to 

the independence of their coun^ ^ ^ haVC endeavo «red to maintain 



1768, 



1769, 



Years. 

May 21 
May 28 

June 20 

1770, 

April 26 
June 22 
Sept. 6 
Sept. 14 

1772, April 22 
Aug. 25 



1792, June 10 
June 11 
June 15 
June 18 
July 4 
July 17 
July 24 
1 



Epoch I. — 

Places. 

• Berdyczew . 
. Brzezany 
. Bar . 

• Brzesc Litewski 

Minsk (Lith.) 

. Czenstochowa 
. Szrensk 

Lanckorona 

Radziga 

Stolowicze . 

Cracow 

Czenstochowa 

Epoch II. — 

Stolbce 

Mir 

Boruskowce 
Zielence 
Zelwa . 
Dubienka 
Granne . 



CONFEDERATION OF BaH 

Commanders. 

• Pulaski 

• I. Potocki . 
. I. Potocki . 

• Pulaski 
C Bierzynski and ~> 



Sapieha 
Pulaski 
Sawa-Kalinski 
Dumouriez . 
M. K. Oginski 
M. K. Oginski 
Choisy 
Pulaski 

Campaign op 1792. 

Bielak 
Judycki 
M. Wielhorski 
J. Poniatowski 
J. Zabiello . 
Kosciusko . 
J. Zabiello . 



J 



Enemies. 
Russians. 
Russians. 
Russians. 
Russians. 

Russians. 

Russians. 
Russians. 
Russians. 
Russians. 
Russians. 
Russians. 
Russians. 



Russians. 
Russians. 
Russians. 
Russians. 
Russians. 
Russians. 
Russians. 



[For gratuitous distribution.] 



by being associated in the field with the veterans who had gained ovor an enemy, 
three times their number, the brilliant victories of Stoczek, Grochow, Wawr, 
Dembe-Wielkie, Iganie, and Ostrolenka. 



Epoch III. — Wab of Independence. 



Years. 
.1794, April 4 
May 7 
June 6 
June 8 
June 25 
July 9 
July 29 
Aug. 2 
Aug. 7 
Sept. 18 
Sept. 19 
Qct. 2 
Oct. 10 
Nov. 4 



1806, Dec. 27 

1807, Feb. 23 
May 16 

1809, April 19 
Apri,l 25 
April 25 
May 3 
May 18 
May 14 
May 20 
June 9 
June 17 
July 11 



July 18 



1831, Feb. 14 
Feb. 17 

Feb. 19 



18 to 26 

Feb. 

on the 

plains of 

Grochow. 



Feb. 
Mar. 



Mar. 31 



April 10 
April 19 
April 26 



Places 
Raclawice 
Polany 
Szczekociny 
Chelm 
Soly . 
Golkow 
Salaty . 
Slonim 
Libau . 
Krupczyce 
Brzesc Litewi 
Bromberg 
Maciejowice 
Praga . 



:ki 



Commanders. 
Kosciuszko 
Jasinski 
Kosciuszko 
Zayonczek . 
Iasinski 
Zayonczek . 

. Giedroyc 
Sierakowski 
Wawrzecki 
Sierakowski 
Sierakowski 
Dombrowski 
Kosciuszko 
Zayonczek 



Epoch IV,— Campaign of 1806 to 1809 



. Bromberg 

. Dirschau 

. Ruda . 

. Raszyn 

• Wygoda 

. Radzymin 

. Gora 

. .Sandomir 

. Thorn . 

. Zamosc 

. Iedlinsko 

. Sandomir 

. Zarnowiec 
C Brykain 
£ Wieniawka 



Kosinski 
Dombrowski 
Krukowiecki 
Poniatowski 
Sokolnicki . 
Sierawski .. 
Sokolnicki . 
Sokolnicki . 
Woyczynski 
Pelletier 
Zayonczek . 
, Sokolnicki . 
Kosinski 

' y Rzyszczewski 



Epoch V.— War of 1830-31. 



$ 



. Stoczek 

. Dobre 
C Swirza and ^ 
£ Novawies 
fMilosna . 
I Wawr 
| Grochow 

■J Zombki . 
Bialolenka 
Nasielsk . 

I 

Pulawy . 
Kurow . 

Wawr . 

Dembe . 

Iganie . 
Boremel 
Kuflew . 



May 26 . Ostrolenka 



. Radzivill . 

, Zymirski . 

, .Chlopicki . 

, Krukowiecki 

, WeyssenhofT 

. Szembek . 
Uminski . 

. Lagowski . 

. Dwernicki . 

. Skrzynecki 

c Skarzynski 

£ Zamoyski 
, Prondzynski 
. Dwernicki . 
. Dembinski . 

f" Skrzynecki . 

< Kamienski . 

CBem . 



Dwernicki 
Skrzynecki 

Dwernicki 

Skrzynecki 

Lubienski 

Gielgud 

Malachowski 

Rohland 

Milberg . 

Iankowski 



C Prondzynski 
£ Chrzanowski 

> Lubienski 

. Kicki . 



Enemies. 
Russians. 
Russians. 
Rus. & Prus. 
Russians. 
Russians. 
Russians. 
Russians. 
Russians. 
Russians. 
Russians. 
Russians. 
Prussians. 
Russians. 
Russians. 



Prussians. 
Prussians. 
Prussians. 
Austrians. 
Austrians. 
Austrians. 
Austrians. 
Austrians. 
Austrians. 
Austrians. 
Austrians. 
Austrians. 
Austrians. 

Austrians. 



Russians. 
Russians. 

Russians. 

Russians. 
Russians. 
Russians. 
Russians. 
Russians. 
Russians. 
Russians. 
Russians. 
Russians. 

£ Russians. 

Russians. 

Russians. 
Russians. 
Russians. 



Pac 

Kicki . 
Lubienski 



Russians. 



1, May 


29 


. Raygrod 


June 
Aug.- 
Aug. 
Aug. 


19 

9 

29 

29 


. Wilno . 
.- Ilza 

.- Miedzyrzee 
. Rogoznica 


Sept. 
Sept. 
Sept. 


6 
7 
8 


. £> Warsaw 



Had not, therefore, the iimid and selfish policy of the cabinets of Europe para 3 
lyzed the efforts of the Polish nation, had they even consented to remain strictly 
neutral*, history, notwithstanding the feeling of despondency, which necessarily 

Names. Places. Commanders. Enemies^ 

CDembhiski . t Sierakowski .1 j^ggj^g 

£ Roland . t Szymanowski 5 

Gielgud . . Chlapowski . Russians. 

, Rozycki . . Russians. 

Ramorinu . . Sierawski . Russians. 

, Gawronski . . Russians. 

r Malachowski . "} r> u • t • -■» 

V ,-. , . , . / RybmsRi . J 

y Dembmski . .• f f / . , . ( * w „j„_ w 

< c ■ \ ■ > Ummsla . > Russians, 

i Sowmski . . i -ixT t • \ 

I -a \ Wysocki .j 

C. Bern . . . J 

* The following letter from General Skrzynecki, to the King of Prussia, proves to what 
an extent the interference of Prussia, in favour of the Russians, was carried during the 
contest. 

" Sihe — I should not presume to address your Majesty, if I did not entertain the hope, 
that your Majesty would recognise my title as the Commander-in-chief of the National 
Forces of Poland. The importance of the object of this communication will, I trust, ren- 
der it a sufficient apology for me in thus engaging your Majesty's attention. 

" From the time of your Majesty's accession to the throne, you have not ceased, in the 
course of your paternal government, to give splendid proofs of your love of justice. Rely- 
ing on these qualities, I feel by anticipation, some relief from the annoyance and vexation 
which the civil and military authorities of your Majesty's government have caused me. 

" You have recognised, Sire, in concert with the other Courts, the principle of non- 
intervention. And there can be no doubt that your Majesty's ministers have received or- 
ders to act upon that principle. Hence the Polish army cannot have any right to com- 
plain of your Majesty personally, but to submit to you rather, the grievances which your 
servants have inflicted upon it. 

" Every day the army witnesses, in defiance of the neutrality which your Majesty was 
pleased solemnly to signify your intention of maintaining towards Poland, that the civil 
and military authorities on the frontiers, manifest so much favour to the Russians, that it 
is attributable only to the supplies of every description which they receive, through the in- 
strumentality of your Majesty's government and subjects, that the latter have not yet been 
compelled to retreat. 

" First, — The Prussian authorities supply the Russians with provisions from the store- 
houses of Thorn and the neighbourhood. 

"Secondly,— Prussian artillerymen have been sent to the Russian army to be employed 
against us. 

" Thirdly, — The Russian army receives ammunition from the Prussian fortresses. 

" Fourthly, — The uniforms of several Russian regiments are made in Prussia. 

" Fifthly, — A Prussian engineer of Marienwerder (Kwidzin) has been employed to 
construct a bridge upon the Vistula, near Zlotoria, for the passage of the Russians ; the 
necessary materials having been furnished by Prussia. 

" I could adduce innumerable other circumstances which are equivalent to acts of hos- 
tility, but I confine myself to the above facts, in the persuasion that they will be sufficient 
to engage your Majesty to change the actual state of things which your Majesty is un- 
doubtedly ignorant of, and which is so contrary both to your declared policy and dignity. 

" I bGg your Majesty will be pleased to excuse the liberty I have taken to address you, 
and I beseech you to listen to the voice of humanity, and to take pity on the oppressed, 
whom the gigantic power of Russia would be unable to subdue, without the assistance 
clandestinely furnished to our enemy, by the civil and military authorities of Prussia. 

" In the hope, Sire, that these representations will not be disapproved of by your Ma- 
jesty, 

" I have the honour to be, 

" Your Majesty's most obedient humble servant, 
" SKRZYNECKI, 
" Generalissimo of the Polish army. 
" Heart Quarters, Siennica, June 19, 1831." 



prevailed with some portions of the people, might yet have recorded the independ- 
ence of Poland, achieved by the exertions of her own sons ; might yet have de- 
scribed her again assuming, as the result of her own efforts, the position which it 
is the true policy of Europe she should ever maintain — that of a bulwark against 
the power and ambition of Russia. 

The armed force of Poland, subsequently to the surrender of Warsaw, consisted 
principally of three corps. The largest, of about 30,000 men, had been left to de- 
fend the capital, and after its surrender retreated towards Plock, accompanied by 
the members of the executive government, by the senate, and by a majority of the 
chamber. It was led by General Rybinski, who had succeeded to the chief com- 
mand of the Polish army. After some fruitless endeavours to organise a new plan 
of operations and to cross the Vistula, for the purpose of falling upon the rear of the 
Russians, the whole of this corps was at last forced to take refuge in Prussia. The 
second corps was that of General Ramorino, in Podlachia. It numbered 18,000 
men, and was composed of regular troops, in the best condition. A battle having 
been fought near Miedzyrzec, in which it gained some advantages, it pursued the 
enemy to Brzesc; but being unable to prevent the surrender of Warsaw (to which, 
after being recalled, it was hastening by forced marches) it made its way towards 
Sandomir — continually harassed by the Russians — with the view of crossing the 
Vistula at that point, but finding no bridge constructed, and being unable to effect a 
passage, it entered the territory of Austrian Galicia. The third and smallest corps 
was that of General Rozycki, in the Palatinate of Cracow. It consisted of about 
6,000 men, a great portion of whom were recruits or volunteers from Volhynia and 
Podolia. Reinforcements continually streamed to it from Galicia ; and there were 
many in its ranks, animated with an ardent desire to relieve the forlorn state of their 
country. This corps made the most gallant stand against the Russians, till pressed 
on all sides, it was obliged to retreat, first on the territory of the Republic of Cra- 
cow, and when attacked by the enemy even on that neutral ground, it continued its 
retreat to Galicia, accompanied by Prince Czartoryski, Skrzynecki, Ladislas Os- 
trowski, the President of the Chamber of Deputies, and by many more of the lead- 
ing men of the revolution, who had sought an asylum in Cracow, vainly hoping that 
its neutrality would be respected. Thus Cracow, the ancient capital of Poland — 
the mausoleum of her kings and heroes, — the place where the ashes of Sobieski and 
Kosciuszki repose — bore testimony to the fidelity with which Prince Czartoryski 
and his companions redeemed the pledge pronounced by him in the Senate, and 
adopted by every Pole, to contend for the last inch of their native country. 

To the above corps, which comprised the chief divisions of the Polish army, we 
must unite a small body of troops under the command of General Dwernicki, which 
had made a partisan excursion into Volhynia, but which long before the affairs of 
Poland had taken a disastrous turn, was obliged to seek refuge on Austrian ground, 
followed by many of the inhabitants of Podolia, who previously to its movement 
towards that province, had enthusiastically joined the national cause. Finally, if 
to the above we add about 12,000 Polish troops and Lithuanian insurgents, who, 
with Generals Gielgud and Chlapowski, entered Prussia at the close of the contest, 
we shall have the gross number of refugees of all ranks and arms, of every age and 
sex, who constituted in the first instance the mass of the Polish emigration. 

The extent of this emigration did not fail to excite surprise in many parts of Eu- 
rope, and the Emperor himself, startled by its amount, issued promises of pardon 
to his misguided Polish subjects, as they were called, if they would return to their 
country. Many, driven by necessity, or compelled by the open hostility of the 
neighbouring powers, were eventually obliged to accept these offers : but the lead- 
ing members of the national government, the officers of the army, and a large body 
of the soldiers, felt that there were strong and urgent reasons for not listening to 
any terms proposed by the Emperor Nicholas. They knew him from experience, 
and that experience taught them not only that his heart was a stranger to the feel- 
ings of humanity, but that he was the uncompromising enemy of their national in- 
dependence and of their social and political rights. How then could they believe a 
tyrant's professions, when they were conscious they had awakened his fears, by 
their devotion to their country's cause. When they knew they had humbled his 
pride, and wounded his self-love, by revealing to Europe the weakness of his un- 
wieldy empire 1 — that giant, as it has been called, on his feet of clay ! 



But. had the Poles even admitted justice to be an attribute consistent with the 
nature of an offended despot, all reliance on his professions would have been de- 
stroyed by the fact, that they who enjoyed his confidence, and directed the policy 
of his government, were the implacable enemies of Poland and of freedom. From 
the natural disposition of the Russian people the Poles had not much to fear ; but 
they had every thing to dread from their fanaticism and ignorance, feelings which 
when artfully worked upon by the agents of the Russian Government, have ever 
made them the ready tools and fearful ministers of the Emperor's will. At one 
time the Russian army was made to believe that it was marching against the 
French, to whom it bore a national hatred from the time of Napoleon ; and when 
this stratagem was discovered, by the Russian and Polish troops meeting in the 
field of battle, the priests were instructed to preach a crusade against the Poles as 
Roman Catholics, who intended to subvert the Greek church, to desecrate their 
places of worship, and to convert the people of Russia to the Roman Catholic faith. 
By these, and similar delusions, the Russians were exasperated against the Poles, 
and were induced to consider the war in which they were engaged, a contest for 
their altars and their homes. Under the influence of such feelings, the Imperial 
Guards were despatched from Petersburgh in the frost of January — Barbarian 
hordes were summoned from the remotest corners of Asiatic Russia — and Kierghies, 
Circassians, and Kalmucks were pressed into the service, to maintain the tottering 
despotism of Muscovy, and suppress constitutional freedom on the banks of the Vis- 
tula. In vain did the Poles send out white flags, bearing the inscription " For our 
and your liberty." The appeal was made without success to an ignorant soldiery ; 
the flags were supposed to be flags of truce, or rewards were claimed by those who 
laid them at the feet of their commanders, as for trophies taken in battle. Thus the 
ignorance and fanaticism of the Russian people, which interposed so many obstacles 
to the establishment of Polish independence, would, in the event of the Poles re- 
turning to their own country, have rendered it impossible for them to rely on their 
good will, as a protection against the cruelty and oppression of the government. 

The only remaining source to which the Poles could have looked for substantial 
relief, would have been the armed intervention of the cabinets or of the people of 
Europe. But they remembered the treaty of Vienna, already violated with impu- 
nity by the Russian government. They knew, too, that it had been proclaimed in 
the French Chamber of Deputies on the fall of the capital of their country, that 
" Peace and order reigned at Warsaw," and they also knew that " the peace which 
reigned at Warsaw" was " the peace of the tomb." 

The Poles, therefore, after making efforts unparalleled in the history of nations, 
beheld themselves surrounded with imminent dangers at home, while they could trace 
nothing but apathy and indifference, or open hostility, abroad. In this difficult situ- 
ation, they adopted the course which appeared to them most consistent with the 
interests of their country and with their own character. History told them that 
many of their countrymen had heretofore, in foreign lands, formed themselves into 
Polish legions, and had afterwards returned to their homes, to assist in re-establish- 
ing one part of dismembered Poland. " In his military emigration, the Pole of 
former days, who transported into foreign lands his household gods, called down 
vengeance on the violence so long inflicted on them, and consoled himself with the 
reflection, that in supporting the cause of freedom he was fighting the battles of 
his native land ; and in the Duchy of Warsaw, the country of his forefathers existed 
again."* The refugees hoped to follow these bright examples, if circumstances 
should permit ; and, confident in the justice of their cause, they did not, even in 
their deepest adversity, despair of the regeneration of their native country ; but 
with firmness unshaken, and with untainted honour, they abandoned the frontiers 
and emigrated from Poland. 

Emigration, however, necessarily involves a severance of those ties of kindred 
and of home, which renders it a painful and melancholy undertaking, though 
prompted as in the case of the Poles by the most exalted and patriotic motives. 
" It was on the evening of the 16th of November," says an eye witness, "that 
Ramorino's corps passed into the Austrian territory. The last rays of the sun, 
emerging from behind the mountains of Sandomir, fell across a beautiful landscape 

* Manifesto of the Polish Nation to Europe, 



oh the opposite bank of the Vistula, which rolled its waters in deep shade below./ 
The contest had just ceased. The Polish army stood in its ranks on a broken and 
hilly piece of ground, safe after the recent battle from their overwhelming and im- 
placable foe, only because the neutrality of the Austrian territory was, in this in- 1 
stance, respected. The Russian cannon was still heard at intervals in the distance, 
echoing along the ridge of mountains, and as its sound died aWay, it seemed for the 
moment to the Polish patriot, that the last blow for his country had been struck, 
and that his efforts had terminated, as the anxieties of man terminate when the final 
struggle of life is over. There was, indeed, in their situation, enough to excite the 
deepest emotion. The patriotic songs, so often heard in the Polish camp, were 
hushed — here and there horses strayed deprived of their riders — the soldiers leant 
on their arms in mute despondency — and when called upon by the Austrian autho- 
rities to surrender those arms, many of the veterans who had served in the cam-« 
paigns of Napoleon, broke their muskets, while others buried their sabres in secret 
places, in the hope that they would soon again be required in the service of their 
country." 

A similar scene took place upon the retreat of General Rybinski's corps into 
Prussia. It was, as we have mentioned, the principal division of the Polish army, 
and was accompanied by ninety-five pieces of cannon, which were surrendered to 
the local authorities, pursuant to a stipulation which had been entered into with the 
Prussian government. The cosmopolite would perhaps have sneered at the feeling 
evinced by many of the soldiers on quitting these stern companions of their triumphs 
and misfortunes ; but those best acquainted with the character of the Poles, gathered 
from their conduct hope and confidence for the future fortunes of their country, 
while every new act of devotion discovered the true source of the extraordinary ex- 
ertions they had made during the past. These cannon were afterwards delivered to 
the Russians, a proceeding unexpected by the Poles, and which they considered' 
the greatest insult that could be offered to them as soldiers. 

The Poles in Austrian Galicia having laid down their arms, had places of sojourn 1 
allotted to them till further orders were received from Vienna. The soldiers were 
distributed in depots, while the officers were allowed to take up their quarters at 
Sieniawa (an estate of Prince Czartoryski), and both were placed under strict mili- 
tary surveillance. Many of the officers, however, contrived to elude the vigilance 
of the Austrian cordon of 60,000 men, and joined Rozycki's corps, which was still 
in the field, against the common enemy. Such of them as remained, and were 
natives of Galicia, were allowed by the Austrian Government to continue unmo j 
lested in their homes ; while those who were strangers, met with all the warmth 
and sympathy which the natives of that ancient province of Poland continue to 
cherish towards their fellow-countrymen. The refugees, therefore, were everywhere 
received with enthusiasm ; the mansions of the resident gentry were thrown open 
at their approach, and where the Austrian system of espionage permitted, their 
presence was the signal of rejoicing and festivity. Indeed, no where might Prince 
Metternich and his Imperial master read a more instructive' lesson than m Austrian 
Galicia. The public functionaries are, for the most part, Germans ; Poles having 
been excluded from offices of trust in the local government, in the hope that Polish 
principles might be suppressed, and that opinions more congenial to the tastes and 
wishes of the Imperial Court, might be introduced into that portion of the Empire. 
But the very reverse has happened. The German functionaries have become bound 
by family connexions to the native Galicians ; their children have been educated at 
the same seminaries with the Polish youth ; early friendships have been established, 
and social ties have been formed ; they have failed to diffuse German habits and 
prejudices, but they have themselves imbibed the feelings and enthusiasm of their 
new countrymen, and many of the volunteers in the Polish ranks during the recent 
contest were the sons of civil servants, nominated by the Court of Vienna. 

In Hungary, too, the liveliest sympathy was openly avowed for the Poles, both 
during the continuance and after the termination of their struggle. It is known 
that the Hungarians offered to arm and maintain, at their own expense, 100,000 men 
to assist the Poles. The offer was rejected by the Austrian Cabinet. But we 
cannot convey a more faithful picture of the feeling which prevailed amongst these 
ancient allies of Poland, than by quoting the following extract from an Address pre- 
sented to the Emperor of Austria by the County Palatine of Bars : — 



"In considerino- the enormous power the Ottoman Empire at one time possessed, 
and the long wars it waged with Greece ; the very misfortunes our country, through 
this increase of power, was subsequently exposed to, have taught us that the great 
fault at that period was with us, inasmuch as we abandoned Greece to its own fate, 
and allowed it to be subjugated. The present is an analogous case, and we are 
therefore reminded of the propriety of not looking with indifference at the gigantic 
strides of the Northern Colossus, which is so rapidly increasing in power; not by 
any right of inheritance, nor by free popular election, but by force of arms ,- that it may 
be checked while there is time, and be confined within its proper limits. By evincing 
our gratitude, and by performing a bounden duty towards the undaunted Poles, who 
are fighting for their independence and their nationality, we shall also provide for 
our own security. Whereas, by neglecting to do so, and by abandoning them, 
should they succumb, overwhelmed though not subdued, we fear lest we ourselves 
or our descendants, be exposed to the same perils from the same enemy, and here- 
after lament, though in vain, that there is not another Sobieski to save us.* 

"May it therefore please your majesty graciously to consider what dreadful 
futurity the gallant Polish nation would have to expect, if their noble efforts should 
fail to produce those results to which the justice of their cause entitles them : a 
nation, Sire, whose claims on your august house, and on our own country, are never 
to be forgotten — a nation, which with courage unparalleled, but with forces unequal, 
is now struggling with its enemy, and is not likely to succeed but at the expense 
of the greatest sacrifices. In considering, furthermore, that danger is impending, 
from the North on all the neighbouring nations, we most humbly pray your Majesty 
to make the fate of unhappy Poland, before it be too late, an object of deliberation 
with your faithful subjects at the next Diet; and in the meanwhile graciously to 
abolish the recent regulations which prohibit all exportation of arms, ammunition, 
and scythes, almost the only branch of commerce that is left us by the severe prohi- 
bitions of the custom-house." 

Our limits prevent us from entering more into detail on these occurrences. We 
have endeavoured, however imperfectly, to shadow out events, which we conceive 
justify the opinion that there exists in the eastern sections of Europe, a current of 
feeling which may be diverted from its legitimate and proper channel ; but which, 
if properly directed, would in due season overwhelm, with accumulated power, the 
boundaries which the narrow policy of despotism would interpose to its progress. 
And we contend, that even the few facts we have stated show, that a bolder and 
mord decided course of action on the part of England and of France, during the late 
contest, would have re-established Poland as an independent kingdom, and by 
forming a nucleus in that country for constitutional principles, would have reared 
an impassable barrier against the encroachments of Russia. 

It is said, that the timid policy we adopted has prevented a lavish expenditure of 
money, and a great sacrifice of human life. We are sincere advocates for peace, and 
the conviction that these objects had been permanently attained, would go far to 
reconcile us to the existing state of things in Poland. But what is there in the 
recent proceedings and present position of Russia to justify such an assumption ? 
Are we prepared to look coldly on, while Constantinople shares the fate of Warsaw, 
while this key-stone is added to the arch of Russian ambition ? And can we per- 
suade ourselves that the moral influence which such a conquest would exercise 
over the whole Mahometan world, the actual power Russia would thereby acquire 
in the Mediterranean, and in southern Europe, would neither affect the security of 
our eastern possessions, or bring danger to constitutional freedom in the west ? 

Russia, during the contest in Poland, resembled, if we may so express ourselves, 
a vast, but ill-assorted Mosaic ; kingdoms, provinces, and districts, acknowledging 
one common authority, but without any community of customs, language, or reli- 
gion, made up the unwieldy and discordant mass ;f and the intrinsic weakness of 

* Among the papers of Constantine, found after his escape from Warsaw, a plan for 
the invasion of Hungary by Russia was discovered, which contained the most minute de- 
tails of an intended campaign, drawn up by Lieutenant-Colonel Prondzinski, at the com- 
mand of the Grand Duke. 

f We believe the following, taken from Malte-Brun, to be the most accurate published 
statement of the various Nations and Tribes that constitute the Russian Empire. The 



such an empire was sufficiently proved by the difficulty the Court of Peters- 
burgh experienced in subduing the Poles. But let Russia possess Constantinople 
and her position will be fearfully changed. Austria, vacillating between her selfish 
fear of Constitutional freedom, and her dread of Muscovite aggression, may be com- 
pelled to throw her bayonets into the Russian scale. The supple Asiatic will bow 
with humility, though with reluctance, to the conquerors of Stamboul. Poland is 
already prostrate. The Black Sea will afford a secure and admirable nursery for 
her seamen, and its rivers will supply inexhaustible means for constructing a navy. 
New sources of commerce and wealth will be opened to her; that which was dis- 



amount of population is however uncertain, as independently of other causes, the jealousy 
of the Government prevents any precise statistical information from being obtained. 



SLAVONIC NATIONS. 



Russians proper, or Mus- 
covites 
2- f Poles - _ - 
c g-a I Little Russians or 
s'bvSK Rusnacks 
1*5 s£ I Lithuanians, 
"- 1 ° [jLettons, or Kures 
Bulgarians and Servians 



FINNIC AND FINNO-HUNNIC 

Finlanders, Ymes, 

Quaenes and Karetes 
Ehstes - 
Lives and Krevines 
Laplanders 
Syriaines 
Woguls - 
Permiakes 
Tchouvasches 
Tcheremisses 
Mordvines 
Wotiakes 
Ostiakes of Obi - 
Teptiaires 



34,000,000 

5,500,000 

900,000 

1,300,000 

600,000 

30,000 

50,430,000 

NATIONS. 

1,380,000 

480,000 

3,000 

9,000 

30,000 

12,000 

34,000 

370,000 

190,000 

92,000 

141,000 

107,000 

114,000 



2,962,000 

TARTAIt OR TURKISH NATIONS. 



Tartars, or Turks Proper 

Nogays - 

Truchmenes 

Kirguis - 

Khivintzes 

Boukhares (Tartars) - 

Meschtcheriakes and Arabs 

Baschkirs 

Teleoutes 

Iakoutes ... 



CAUCASIAN NATIONS. 

Grusians, or Georgians 
Lesghians ... 

Tcherkesses, or Circassians 
Awchases ... 

Ossetes .... 
Midzhigis ... 



1,204,000 

154,200 

200,000 

360,000 

2,500 

10,500 

37,000 

140,000 

1,000 

88,000 

2,197,200 

560,000 

230,000 

190,000 

90,000 

42,000 

43,000 

1,155,000 



TEUTONIC AND SCANDINAVIAN NATIONS. 

Germans ... 380,000 

Swedes - 50,000 

Danes .... 1,200 



, MOGUL NATIONS. 

Buriaites ... 

Kalmucks, or Oelocts 
Kalkas - 



437,200 

120,000 
75,000 
18,000 

213,000 



DIFFERENT TRIBES IN THE NORTH-EAST. 



Tunguses ... 

Samoides ... 

Tribes of Yenisei (Klaproth) 

Kamtschadales 

Ioukaguires 

Koriakes ... 



Tchouktches 

Kitaigues 

Tchugatches 

Konaigues 

Kenaitzes 



American Tribes 



ESQUIMAUX, &c. 



50,000 

20,000 

38,000 

9,500 

3,200 

8,000 

128,700 

50,000 
3,000 
5,000 
8,000 
4,000 

70,000 
20,000 



DIFFERENT ASIATIC NATIONS. 



Jews - 

Armenians ... 

Tadjiks, or Persian Boukhares 

Zigeunes, or Gipsies 

Hindoos . - - 

Arabs - 

Parses -.-.'-■'• 



460,000 

74,000 

15,000 

10,000 

500 

6,200 

2,000 

567,700 



DIFFERENT EUROPEAN NATIONS. 

Moldavians - - - 85,000 

Wallachians . - - - 45,000 

Greeks .... 21,000 

English, French, &c. - 6,000 

157,000 



iointed and weak will be consolidated and strengthened ; and the armies she now 
ITdIovs to subdue and control her distant and turbulent provinces, will be wielded 
to promote her ambition, and extend her conquests in civilized Europe 

A sufficient supply of arms and ammunition would have enabled the Poles to 
bring more than treble the number of combatants into the field and it is possible 
that this accession of force might have enabled them successfully to resist their 
oppressors Tbut there can be no" reasonable doubt, that if their exertions had also 
be^stimulated by the knowledge of an English squadron being in the Baltic or 
an EiMish squadron and a French army in the Euxine, we should now be cele- 
brating the triumphs of regenerated Poland, instead of mourning over her misfor- 
tunes § and degradation. The Governments of England and France shrunk from 
thts mSy! and, as it appears to us, obvious line of policy. The question, there- 
fore, 3 might have been disposed of before the walls of Warsaw, remains to 
be deeded, under circumstances much less favourable, on the shores of the Bos- 

Ph prus'sia, with no unequal steps, followed the example set by Russia, in her con- 
duct towards the Poles. The sluggish and more indifferent Austrian can only be 
unUmed at the bar of Europe, as an accessary to the national crimes perpetrated 
bv the Czar. Prussia stands forward as a principal. Her cruelty to the unarmed 
and defenceless warriors, who trusted to her honour, was rivalled by her mean sub- 
serviency to the cabinet of Petersburgh. 

The number of Poles who surrendered in Prussia, in consequence of the stipula- 
tion entered into between the Prussian authorities and the Polish chiefs amounted 
to upwards of 20,000 men. This division laid down their arms, on the express 
condS of obtaining protection and safe sojourn. But the Prussian Government 
3 not permit those to whom it vouchsafed its protection, to dispose of themselves 
as thev thought fit. The refugees were treated as prisoners of war, during four 
monthL and at the expiration of that period, they were informed that such of the 
^commissioned officers and soldiers as were natives of the kingdom of Poland 
must return, for to them the Emperor of Russia had granted an amnesty. On the 
Uth of December, 1831, a division of the Poles were surrounded by Prussian 
troops, who gave them to understand, that if they refused to march they would be 
Ired upon. Such of them as submitted were immediately forwarded to the fron- 
ton, while those who declared their unwillingness to return to Poland, assembled 
in Sols, preiemng death to Russian amnesty. Attempts were then made under 
pretence of changing their cantonments, to draw them gradually towards Poland 
and Place them within the power of the Russian troops; but the unfortunate refu- 
"eesrnow convinced of the bad faith of the Prussian authorities, refused to proceed 
This was the signal for a scene of blood which must fill every generous mind with 
mdignatom TrPrusSan cavalry charged the unarmed Poles : but the soldiers 
only called God to witness the barbarous massacre, they submitted to die, but 
SpA to advance a step. These scenes were repeated on more than one occa- 
sion and f°G^l BybiSki thought himself imperatively called upon to address 
the following letter of remonstrance to the King of Prussia : 

« Sm E -It is with a heart lacerated with grief, that I address myself to your Majesty, 
in order to lay before you the details of the bloody event which has plunged my unfortu- 
nate Sow sJldiSs mto mourning and despair; an event which I am afraid will be njne- 
JS^SmSSSj in a false light, seeing that it could not have been authorized and 
that the PoS soldier! who had sought refuge in Prussia, did not forget even at the mo- 
ment at which they feTl the victims of the most horrible treatment, either the respect which 
tTev owed to the Authority of the country in which they found themselves, or the graU- 

nde Xch was due fron/them to your Majesty for the ^^^^±^ n ^ 
pleased to extend to them. A simple and exact recital of *» ^J^g™^ month 
« Maior Szwevkowski, of the Prussian army, repaired, on the 27th ot the present montn 
to F^raufoTthe purpose of reviewing there a detachment of Polish cavalry, which was 
LSh to^Lhoodnf Marienburgh. And having ^^eiSTL^n 
from this detachment, who he said were too much ^compromise to J^J*™™* 
country, he declared to the others, that they would be com P elled *V^ 

Poland All these soldiers, who had on several occasions manifested their firm determ 
nation not to return to Poland, resolved to repair to Marienburgh, to General Schmidt, 



10 

who had guaranteed to them the free choice ^Jf a place of residence, and in whose pre- 
mises they had the greatest confidence. Bat scarcely had they begun their march, totally 
unarmed, when a detachment of Prussian infantry opposed their passage : the Polish sol- 
diers instructed one of their officers to endeavour to facilitate their advance ; but at this 
moment a sharp fire from the Prussian detachment, killed six Polish soldiers on the spot 
and wounded seven very dangerously. Even a Prussian officer, named Trembicki, being 
among the Polish soldiers, in order to harangue them, was seriously wounded. The 
Polish soldiers bore with heroic patience, this horrible violation of hospitality and of 
voluntary promises; and although much superior in numbers, did not commit any attack 
against the authority and troops of your Majesty. They contented themselves with dis- 
persing, and arriving separately at Marienburgh, where they were lodged by Major Zelas- 
kowski, in the castle of that town. 

" Having thus made a faithful recital to your Majesty, of this terrible event, so opposite 
to your sentiments, I have only to claim your protection against so great a violation of 
the hospitality which your Majesty deigned to grant us, and to supplicate you to allow 
the Polish officers and soldiers, who have taken refuge in your territory, their personal 
liberty ; seeing that all the measures which have been taken to induce them to return to 
their country, only serve to confirm them in the resolution, to suffer death rather than 
profit by a mere show of amnesty. 

" Before separating myself from the army which I have had the honour to command, 
I have thought it a most sacred duty to address myself to your Majesty, in the name of 
my unfortunate fellow soldiers — in the name of suffering humanity. 

"MATTHIEU RYBINSKI, 

" General in Chief of the Polish Army." 
"Elbing, 28th Jan. 1832." y 

Scarcely seven thousand of the refugees were eventually able to evade the bayo- 
nets of the Prussian troops, or had sufficient firmness in their forlorn situation to 
resist the hollow offers of amnesty, promulgated by the Russian Government. The 
remainder were either forced again to enter Poland, or were induced to do so, by 
the delusive hopes held out to them, of being permitted to return to their homes 
and their families. These hopes, however, were soon destroyed ; numbers were on 
their return enrolled in the regiments destined for Siberia and the Caucasus, and 
those who ventured to remonstrate were offered the alternative of submission, or of 
death by the knout. At Janow, a town in the palatinate of Lublin, this barbarous 
punishment was inflicted on seventeen Polish ssldiers, who were beaten to death 
in the presence of the Russian General Gortschakoff, and the same cruel proceeding 
was witnessed by an English traveller at Cronstadt,* where out of fifty Polish 
soldiers who refused to serve, twelve were selected and beaten. Three thousand 
unarmed Poles were drawn up to witness the disgusting spectacle, and a large 
body of Russian troops attended to suppress any attempt to rescue their unhappy 
countrymen. Two files of Russian soldiers, consisting of two hundred and fifty 
men, stood with hazel sticks in the right hand, and a loaded musket in the left; 
the but-ends of two muskets were then placed under the arms of the sufferers, to 
force them through this double line of their torturers ; and in front bayonets were 
pointed at their breasts, to prevent their advancing too quickly. In this situation 
several of the Poles received so many blows, that a foreign surgeon present 
declared, they could not survive the day ; but if they survived and recovered, they 
were to be beaten again until they consented to serve. 

A broad line of distinction must, however, be drawn between the Prussian Govern- 
ment and the Prussian people ; for, although the Poles did not find in Prussia that 
warmth of feeling which met their countrymen in Austrian Galicia, amidst their kins- 
men and friends, yet they were received with kindness, and throughout Germany 
a lively feeling of regret was expressed at their want of success. 

In Saxony this feeling kindled into enthusiasm. Two of the rulers of Saxony 
had, for upwards of half a century, been kings of Poland,f and its late king was 
Grand Duke of the Duchy of Warsaw. Some of the aged might recollect the 
former, period, and the latter was within the memory of every Saxon adult; the 

* Polonia, p. 347. Hull Record, pp. 49. 56. 

f Augustus II. and Augustus III.; from 1697 to 1763. 



11 

two countries were blended in the page of history ; their fate had been equally dis- 
astrous ; and they were linked together by a community of suffering and misfortune. 
The enthusiasm thus excited in Saxony, spread rapidly to the Rhine. Committees 
were formed, not only at Dresden and Leipsic, but also at Hannau, Frankfort, Metz, 
and the adjacent towns. The line of march of the Polish refugees, on their road to 
France, resembled that of a triumphant army, rather than the broken and dispirited 
progress of a defeated band of patriots, and no conquerors were ever received with 
more honour and distinction, than these unfortunate sufferers in the cause of free- 
dom. Whenever the Polish columns approached a town, they were met, often at 
a distance of several miles, by the citizens bearing the flags of their different guilds, 
entwined with the Polish colours. The magistrates and the people vied with each 
other in welcoming the gallant though unfortunate strangers ; the road over which 
they passed was often strewed with flowers ; their deeds were sung in their native 
Polish language; and their entry within the city walls of their hospitable entertain- 
ers, was celebrated with music, and the firing of artillery. 

Bnt the effect produced by the presence of the Poles was not confined to these 
outward marks of sympathy and friendship. At political meetings, and at social 
festivals, Poland was praised and lamented ; poets bewailed her fall, and historians 
recorded her achievements ; she was held up as an example worthy of imitation, 
and a feeling of admiration for the heroic efforts of her sons, and of indignation 
against her enemies, sunk deeply into the minds of the German people. They felt, 
in the language of the address of the Polish refugees to the British House of Com- 
mons, «' That the successive partitions of Poland subverted the system of European 
states ; that they checked the progress of constitutional improvement by considera- 
bly increasing the material force of the despotic powers ; that they gave birth to a 
new system, contrary to public right and justice ; that they afforded additional power 
to despots to turn to their own profit the annihilation of the independence of nations ; 
that they enabled them, under the pretence of benefiting the people and of curbing 
the spirit of rebellion, to overturn and destroy the liberty of twenty millions of 
Poles ; that then the struggle between two principles began — a struggle which, after 
having brought on the dismemberment of Poland, ought to end by her complete re- 
establishment, as the only means of securing liberty against the encroachments of 
despotism." 

Let the Autocrat of Russia mark well these consequences of his ruthless policy ! 
Let him call to mind his disregard of every constitutional right— his violation of in- 
ternational compacts — and let him reproach himself, if, when the sword is again 
drawn, he should find it is no longer in a contest with the limited power of the Poles, 
but with freemen, and the friends of freedom, to whatever European community 
they belong, armed to put down the enemy of civilization and constitutional liberty 
— united to roll back into its congenial steppes and deserts the tide of Russian bar- 
barism and oppression. 

The despotic princes of the Continent felt uneasy at the prevalence of these feelings 
in favour of the Poles. A spark might have lighted up not only a war, but a Euro- 
pean war of opinion, the remote consequences of which were not unnaturally dreaded 
by the absolute Cabinets of Berlin and Vienna. The most rigorous measures were, 
therefore, immediately adopted to expel the Poles, and the European States of the 
second and third class were in many instances compelled, at the summons of their 
powerful neighbours, to follow the example they were not slow to set them. 
Switzerland was the last to yield, the last, to refuse an asylum to the refugees; but 
the Polish patriots were at length driven from the country of William Tell. No 
places of refuge then remained except England, France, Belgium, and America. 

In a future number we may give some account of the state of the Poles in other 
countries ; but our limits on the present occasion will only permit us to notice, very 
briefly, their arrival and actual condition in England. For about twelve months 
after the close of the war of independence but few of the refugees found their way 
hither. In the spring of 1832, some ensigns coming from Prussia, most of whom 
had been students in the University of Warsaw, landed in England; and these 
were followed, towards the end of the year, by a few officers who were expelled 
from Saxony at the instigation of Russia. In January, 1834, three vessels, which 
had been despatched from Prussia to America with Poles, landed the refugees they 
had on board at Havre in France, at Portsmouth, and at Harwich. Those at Har- 



12 

wich accepted service soon afterwards at Algiers under the French Government? 
but the Poles at Portsmouth, amounting to about 212 men, remained. The number 
has been increased, from time to time, by wanderers from Switzerland. France, 
Austria, and Portugal. At no period, however, did the refugees in England exceed 
500 men, and they now amount to about 425, nearly one half of whom are officers. 

Early in 1832 a number of gentlemen, including Mr. Thomas Campbell the poet, 
formed themselves into the " Literary Association of the Friends of Poland." In 
1833 this Association was established on a more extended basis. Mr. Wentworth 
Beaumont, the liberal member for the southern division of Northumberland, and the 
liberal contributor to the wants of the Poles, was elected President; and Lord 
Brougham, Lord Dudley Stuart, Mr. Cutlar Fergusson, and other zealous friends of 
the Polish cause, have since given it their active support. The praiseworthy objects 
of this Association are, to lend their zealous, though feeble aid, to preserve from 
utter extinction the name and national existence of Poland — to record their humble, 
but decided, protest against every new violation of its constitution, and of the rights 
which were guaranteed to its people by European treaties — to extend assistance to 
the victims of an arbitrary government, who maybe driven to England — and to 
alleviate, if possible, the sufferings of those who have fallen within its grasp. With 
these objects in view, we need scarcely say that the Polish Association has our 
warmest wishes for its prosperity, and we are happy to learn that it now includes, 
amongst its supporters, nearly sixty members of both Houses of Parliament. Its 
influence, too, is daily increasing both in England and on the Continent; and it ap- 
pears, from the " Annual Report" now before us, that its efforts to relieve the dis- 
tressed Poles in England have been eminently successful. On the motion of Lord 
Dudley Stuart, one of its Vice Presidents, the House of Commons last year granted 
.£10,000 for the relief of the refugees, and the government confided the distribution 
of that sum, under certain general rules, to the Association. This most seasonable 
grant of money was estimated to last for a period of twelve months, and the follow- 
ing scale of distribution has been adopted : — 

To every field officer per month .... 

To every officer under that rank ... 

To private soldiers --.--- 

The privates who still remain at Portsmouth having, it appears, the use of a 
government hospital for barracks, receive only £1 Is. per month.* 

We are sincere advocates for economy in the public expenditure, and we are not, 
we hope, insensible to the claims of our native poor : but we trust, nevertheless, 
that this pittance will be continued to these brave men until they become somewhat 
acquainted with our language, and have succeeded in devising a plan for their per- 
manent support. To us the question appears to be simply, whether four hundred 
and twenty-five Polish refugees, who have been forced to this country, and whose 
sole hope of subsistence for the present is on public bounty, shall or not be permitted 
to die of want in our streets. The uncertainty of the period at which such grants 
may cease, has been urged as an objection; but it may be answered that such a 
consideration was not suffered to weigh with the governments of France, Belgium, 
and Switzerland ; nor did it operate as a bar to the liberality of England in the case 
of the Spaniards, the French, and other emigrants. Why then so much hesitation, 
so many scruples, such excessive caution, on the part of our Executive Government, 
when the Poles are concerned 1 It has also been urged, that by relieving the Poles 
a precedent will be established, under which the refugees of every country will 
claim support from the Legislature ; and we admit that this is at least a colourable 
argument against the proposed grant. If, at any future period, men shall land on 

* We should be doing great injustice to the liberal inhabitants of Edinburgh, Glasgow, 
Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Hull, Portsmouth, and Norwich, if we omitted to 
state that they have ever been foremost to relieve the refugees ; but our limits only permit 
us to convey to these friends of the Poles, our belief that their exertions are gratefully re- 
membered by the objects of their bounty, and have given assistance and consolation to more 
than one desponding circle. 



£3 





2 





1 


8 



13 



t ^s.iioA to <?av to the Government and people of England, " % 

our shores, ^^J^^^^ym surrendered to a powerful neigh- 
your act, and that of your allies ' °? r co . u * conditions have been repeatedly and 
l^^^^^^^SZ^^ to oppression with patience, 
shamelessly violated . tor ntteen years vv B . a favourable opportunity, 

though not without , dee, j ^^^J^h^natianality you guaranteed, 
we took up arms to vindicate our r g™* betrayed us in the hour of need. 

You abandoned us, and some ^J^J^nSelZ 5a righteous attempt has failed, 
Overwhelmed in consequence by «g"*m ^Satyou* hands, the means 

Si? oS,ts l^aJpoi-edTr the <*, JJ-S^-SSBJ 

to have been committed durmg the na tonal contest of 1MW1. ^ me>n 

their offices during pleasure, and _enforee a Jeraee ! oi seeiesy wn P 

the details of their proceedmgs ^^S^rXSmly prove that the 

^^^ ff ijte1^^(i%^«^S , l^i 

" When, bv our manifesto ot the mm oi uci. ^im, j.™ y, » o _ llt v, T<. nf 

£S£*SU*M=i* * '^rthe^tlhTSInminTm 
laws wth our statements of clernency w to ™ ™°/ ,, (ie ,£„„„„ tf death pan- 

rhlreSude telm from the amnesty, andtae f*^^£?Zn?*S^ * 
i/onf, of these banished person, should present themselves ,n any par, ./*«fw 

uments relative thereto shall be delivered to our Governor, who is entrusted with the 
execution of the present decree. Zargkojeselo , 4th (l6th ) of Sept 1834 

(Signed) "NICHOLAS.' 

Attached to the above decree of amnesty is, first, a list of forty-nine criminals, who are 

3L^£E«? 2S2ftKfU--i fourthly, a list of those 
condemned to ten years' imprisonment. 



* 



14 

while its members have apparently vied with each other in their endeavours to carry 
into effect the imperial mandate, to judge "quickly and severely."* 

It would be occupying the time of our readers unnecessary, to demonstrate how 
inconsistent the proceedings of such a tribunal must be with the general character 
of the Polish constitution, and in particular with the 138th and 141st articles, which 
declare, "That the judicial order is constitutionally independent, and that judges 
are nominated by the King for life, and cannot be removed. ' It must also be within 
the knowledge of every educated Englishman, that the constitutional freedom, the 
institutions, and the "nationality," not only of one portion, but of the whole of the 
ancient kingdom of Poland, under the several governments to which it is subjected, 
was guaranteed by the Treaty of Vienna, to which Great Britain is a party. We 
trust, therefore, that the fate of the unhappy men who have been doomed by this 
illegal tribunal to a " living death" in the Mines of Siberia, or to drag on a painful 
and degrading existence as common labourers on the public works, will attract some 
attention from the members of the British Legislature and Government. We believe 
that the national interests, as well as the national honour of England, demand a 
faithful performance of public treaties on the part of foreign powers ; but at least 
we are called upon to attempt, by remonstrances through our Ambassador at 
Petersburgh, to alleviate sufferings at which humanity revolts, — sufferings not only 
undeserved, but which are inflicted in defiance of international good faith, and are 
the consequences of conduct which claims and receives the admiration of the civilized 
world. We admit that there is much truth in what was alleged by Lord Brougham 
at the last anniversary meeting of the Polish Association, as to the disinclination of 
the public and the legislature to entertain any question of this kind ; but it was cor- 
rectly said by the noble Lord at the same time, "It all arises from their not knowing 
it is not merely a matter of humanity, but that it is a matter of interest to them- 
selves, and that foreign policy is not foreign policy in the ordinary sense of the 
word. It arises from their not knowing that they have a domestic interest in it, 
which is important to them as Englishmen, and which will have an immediate 
bearing upon the interests of our own country." 

We have also, with reference to this branch of the subject, much pleasure in 
quoting the observations which fell from Mr. Cutlar Fergusson on the same occasion, 
in allusion to the discussion which had recently taken place in the House of Com- 
mons, on the attempt to appoint the Marquess of Londonderry our Ambassador at 
the Court of Petersburgh : — " I think," said the Honourable Member, " that the 
discussion which took place the other day, was perhaps one of the most useful for 
the Polish cause that ever did take place, because there is no other reason why the 
House of Commons has not permitted Lord Londonderry to go as ambassador of 
this country to Russia except this." (His Lordship's declaration that the Poles were 
rebels.) " Now I do think that the effect of that will be most salutary, and that it 
must, to a certain degree, make the arbitrary monarchs of the continent reflect. The 
Emperor Nicholas will learn what the state of feeling in this country is, from its 
being so powerful in the House of Commons ; and he must perfectly well know 
that if the House of Commons take up any question, and feel it warmly, it must be 
carried forward in the House of Lords. He cannot be ignorant of this, and, there- 
fore, I think the result has done the Polish cause good." 

We venture to hope that the observations of these distinguished men will not be 
lost on the liberal members of the Legislature, and that every opportunity will be 
taken to bring under the attention of the Government and of the public, the important 
national considerations involved in the Polish question — a question which must, we 
believe, ere long, force itself upon the attention of western Europe, on the ground 
of self interest alone, and independently of every better and more generous motive. 
In the mean time let the Polish exile, in the emphatical language of the Crown of 
Poland, in 1772, " Full of confidence in the justice of the Almighty, lay his rights at 
the feet of the Eternal Throne, and put his cause into the hands of the King of Kings, 

* Skoro i Srogo (promptly and severely), said the Emperor, in passing through War- 
saw, to General Sulima, the president of the " High Criminal Court." General Sulima 
was soon after succeeded by General Pankratieff, and was promoted to the Governorship 
of Irkutsh, the capital of Ancient Siberia. It is said, he incurred this disgrace for having 
added to the Emperor's two words, a third, i sprawiedliwie (and with justice). 



< 



15 

the Supreme Judge of nations, and in the full assurance of his succour, protest so- 
lemnly, and before the whole universe, against every step taken, or to be taken, 
towards the dismembering of Poland."* 

* The following is a statistical account of the Territory that constituted the kingdom of 
Poland at the time of the first partition, in 1772. The whole of which took a deep and 
enthusiastic interest in the contest for independence : 

Distribution of the inhabitants of ancient Poland, according to their Languages 
(from Stanislas Plater, 1825.) 







"8 . 

• a to 


Russes, 


a 




Walla- 


Russians, 




TERRITORY. 


Poles. 


4%% 


or Rus- 


1 


Jews. 


or Musco- 


TOTAL. 






afS 


nacks. 


o 






vites. 




Sq. miles 


















Kingdom of Poland - - 2,270 


3,000,000 


200,000 


100,000 


300,000 


400,000 






4,000,000 


Republic of Cracow - - 20 


110,000 








10,000 






120,000 


Russian Poland - - - 7,600 


750,000 


1,000,000 


5,520,000 




1,300,000 


50,000 


180,000 


8,800,000 


Kingdom of Galicia (Aus- 


















trian Poland) - - - - 1,500 


1,7 0,000 




1,900,000 


50,000 


300,000 


50,000 




4,000,000 


Duchy of Posen (Pruss.) 540 


660,000 






270,000 


70,000 






1,000,000 


Prussian Poland - - - 900 


550,000 


200,000 




920,000 


30,000 






1,700,000 


Courland and Samogitia 


















(Russian) 450 




500,000 




100,000 








600,000 


TOTAL - - 13,230 


6,770,000 


1,900,000 


7,520,000 


1,6-10,000 


2,110,000 


100,000 


180,000 


20,220,000 



Distribution of the inhabitants, according to their Religious Creeds. 



Kingdom of Poland - 

Republic of Cracow 

Russian Poland 

Kingdom of Galicia (Austrian 
Poland) - 

Duchy of Posen (Prussian) 

Prussian Poland 

Courland and Samogitia (Rus- 
sian) .... 



Roman 
Catho- 
lic. 



3,200,000 

110,000 

2,400,000 

1,500,000 
600,000 
750,000 



8,560,000 



United 
or Ca- 
tholic 
Greeks. 



Oriental 
Greeks. 



100,000 
1,640,000 
2,000,000 



3,230,000 
200,000 



3,740,0003,430,000 



Raskol 
nicks. 



180,000 



180,000 



Protes- 
tants. 



300,000 



330,000 
920,000 

600,000 



2,150,000 



Jews. 



400,000 

10,000 

1,300,000 

300,000 
70,000 
30,000 



2,110,000 



Mussul- 
mans. 



50,000 



50,000 



TOTAL. 



4,000,000 

120,000 

8,800,000 

4,000,000 
1,000,000 
1,700,000 

600,000 



20,220,000 



' 



* 



s& 



_BAg'l2 



